We are a British same-sex couple who legally married in Canada in 2003.
With the support of the human rights organization Liberty, we are seeking a declaration of
the validity of our marriage in the UK. The High Court hearing will start on 6 June 2006.

For the first two years of our marriage, it had no legal recognition at all in our home
country. When the Civil Partnership Act became law (December 2005), it was automatically
treated as a civil partnership. Any different-sex couple married in Canada would
have had their marriage recognized as a marriage in the UK from the outset. We believe
that to treat same-sex couples differently from heterosexual couples in this way is deeply
discriminatory.

Our lawyers will argue that any failure to recognize the validity of our marriage is a
breach of our rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. Although our
case calls specifically for the UK government's recognition of our valid civil marriage
abroad, it has far-reaching implications for lesbian and gay equality and human rights
more generally across Europe.